The revolution-inspired graffiti changing the face of Kiev – in pictures

Two years since the protests that overthrew the government, large murals have been appearing across Ukraine’s capital – some by renowned street artists, others by politically charged locals. RFE/RL takes a tour

Amos Chapple in Kiev for RFE/RL, part of the New East network

Main image:
A portrait of Serhiy Nigoyan, the first person to be shot dead in the Euromaidan protests
Photograph: Amos Chapple/RFE/RL

Fri 26 Aug 2016 02.00 EDT
Last modified on Fri 11 May 2018 08.09 EDT

A mural by French artist Seth Globepainter sits on a quiet street near Independence Square, where protesters
congregated during the long winter months of 2013-2014. The uprising led to pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych, being ousted and war breaking out in eastern Ukraine

A portrait of Serhiy Nigoyan by Portuguese artist Alexandre Farto, known as Vhils. Nigoyan was the first person to be shot dead in the Euromaidan protests on the 22 January 2014. His father spoke of his pride at seeing the portrait, thanking ‘everyone who respects, participated, and strove in his memory.’

A portrait of Ukrainian gymnast Hanna Rizatdinova, who is originally from Crimea but is now based in Kiev. A few months after the uprising Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in a move condemned by the international community and some locals, including Rizatdinova. ‘How can Crimea be Russia? How can our Simferopol school train under a Russian flag? I was outraged,’ she said. Fintan Magee decided to paint this portrait of her, which titled The Dreamer

Singing Girl by Sasha Korban. The Ukrainian artist, who previously worked as a coal miner, fled the war in Donetsk, a city caught in the
fighting between pro-Russian rebels and the Ukrainian national army

Instability by a Greek artist known as INO. The 50m-high image shows a ballerina dancing on a bomb. The explosion of street art the city is partly a result of young locals like the
Mural Social Club and
Art United Us, who arrange for international artists to visit and work in the city

Lilly Of The Valley by Australian artist Guido van Helten. The portrait is of 19th century Ukrainian poet known as Lesya Ukrainka, one of Ukraine’s best-known writers and the foremost female writer in Ukrainian literature

Another work in progress by Korban in a northern suburb of the city. One resident welcomed the project: ‘It’s great. For years we’ve had nothing to look at but concrete’This gallery was amended on 30 August 2016 to credit the artist Alexandre Farto.